The present invention relates to electrical wiring boxes. More particularly, it is concerned with electrical wiring boxes having an integral cable clamp and wiring device mounting member.
Metallic electrical wiring boxes have been in wide use for many years. In metallic wiring boxes it is common practice to incorporate threaded ears or tabs in the box walls for mounting electrical wiring devices such as a plug receptacle or switch. Separate clamping members of a variety of designs are used for clamping an electrical cable in knock-out openings of metallic wiring boxes. A self-locking cable clamp of a type useful in metallic wiring boxes is disclosed in copending U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 171,925, filed July 23, 1980.
Recently, wiring boxes fabricated of thermosetting or thermoplastic resins have been introduced, but many known types of plastic wiring boxes have drawbacks associated with the means by which an electrical wiring device is mounted in the box, or with the means by which a cable is clamped to the box.
Another problem associated with many known plastic wiring boxes is the frequent lack in such boxes of any means by which a mounted wiring device can be electrically grounded. For those wiring devices which lack a grounding lug, there is no place on the device or the box where the grounding conductor of the electrical cable can be attached unless it is attached under the metal mounting stud of the wiring device, a practice with obvious drawbacks.